all right I'd like to call to order the April 9th meeting of the Columbia height School Board um we will rise for the pledge of allegiance plg to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right thank you and welcome Michelle you do the roll call please yes granin here W here m here Palmer here Mueller here pway here superintendent stini here thank you our m mission statement is creating worlds of opportunity for each and every learner all belong all succeed our core values are Community Excellence collaboration Integrity respect courage and Innovation um start uh next we'll have our agenda approval adjustments and announcements and we'll start with an approval of the agenda can I get a motion to approve the agenda removed Jessica and a second second second by Michelle any discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed abstain motion carries next we have our announcements on April 10th Wednesday there is no school on April 16th Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. the school board work session will take um be held at Valley View in the library April 23rd Tuesday at 6: p.m. is our Schoolboard meeting here in the community room um uh May 14th Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. is a subcommittee on policy in the community room May 14th Tuesday at 5:00 P p.m. is a subcommittee on community engagement in the training room and May 14th Tuesday at 6 p.m. is a Schoolboard meeting in the community room um next we will have communication to the board um we'll start with our C uh Citizen and employee Representatives at this time any citizen or employee May briefly address the school board the board will listen to brief remarks ask clarifying questions and if desired request that the administration follow up the board will not take action at this meeting on requests presented at this time time will be limited to three minutes per speaker we have one uh person Kristen um we are coming back online we just um we're offline there briefly for our um citizen employee Representatives communication to the board we had somebody address the board um regarding the need for academic counselors specifically at the high school um next we will move on to the consent agenda the consent agenda includes the Personnel report from April 9th mini Adventure um and adventure club fees and the meeting minutes from uh March 12th uh 2024 and March 19th 2024 work session can I oh as well as the treasure report um from February 2024 can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved Mary in a second second second by Julie any discussion a motion to approve the consent agenda I just wanted to note that one of the items on the consent agenda is about um an increase in fees for Adventure Club and mini adventures and although that's part of the consent agenda this month at the last full board meeting we did have a full presentation around the rationale and needs for those fee changes so that's available to the public who would like to see it is that my echo there's some yeah there's a duplication on the speaker from out is that my echo outside e I can hear myself is that my echo yes thank you Jessica for that information I can hear myself any other discussion yes thank you Jessica for that information yeah is it muted thanks Brian all right with no other discussion we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I I opposed motion passes is so delayed that is a huge delay we're going to pause for a second because I am not going to read the acknowledgement of contributions when I you don't want an adventure right now you don't want an adventure right now all right I think we're just going to have to continue next we have the acknowledgement of contributions as this is a resolution I will read this um and then we will vote on it acknowledgement of contributions resolution Minnesota statute 123 b.2 Perot permits School boards to receive for the benefit of the district requests donations or gifts for any proper purpose and apply the same to the purpose designated on that behalf the board may act as Trustee of any trust created for the benefit of the district and for the benefit of the pups thereof therefore the school board of Columbia Heights Public Schools Independent School District number 13 resolves to accept with appreciation the contributions detailed in the background for $1,425 70 the donations include monetary donations uh donations to the retired teacher excuse me retired staff scholarship were made by Beverly Schwarz for $25 Albert ogi Lan Reed carollyn bang Don and Stanley hyam each for $50 Stephanie Novak for $75 Edward Nelson Janice Olsen Roger and Karen sadlowski Glenda glor Gerald and Diane bolt Elsie boquist Michelle Edwardson Steven and Paula Hall Wayne and Linda kuty each for $100 Janet lson Dean and Brian Miley Ann O'Neal Coleman neov and Lori white Howard and Nancy hornbrook Leo and Katherine maoy each for $200 John and Kathleen Kane Randy and Kathy Kelly Gerald R rling each for $500 the blackb giving fund donated $30 to North Park School for Innovation valy view PTO D donated $200 to valy view for the fund run the the James R and Patricia heac fund for of the Minneapolis Foundation doned $661 to Columbia Academy for student involved ment in ja Finance Park the Columbia Heights athletic booster donated $ 5,614 70 to the activities department for robotics Boys Tennis softball and activities fund Beverly Schwarz donated $25 and Susie vesio donated $20 to support the robotics team at the state tournament value and kind the Columbia Heights lion club donated $750 worth of hygiene products to Columbia Heights High School for student youth Neil granin donated six schools of abs for a 3D printer valued at $1,000 to Columbia Heights for the 3D printer total fiscal 2023 2024 monetary contributions to date 88381 12 cents can I get a motion to adopt this resolution so moved Julie in a second second second by Mary any discussion Julie in a second we still he um I will just comment um as we do just a continued appreciation for um for the donations and I love seeing this time of year the monetary donations that come in for all of our Community Partners and this was very touching for former staff um for our student scholarships so um a huge um benefit to our students so thank you all any other discussion all right since this is a resolution we'll do a roll call vote Michelle you do the rooll please granin I Mueller I po I madus I Palmer i p I resolution passes thank you m this is fun good times all right next we'll have our discussion reports and information items and we'll start with reports from members of the board we will start with Julie discuss um well we've kind of been away for a while because of spring break and so um I did participated in our work session back in March and um met with subcommittee on policy with msba um to kind of go over from a legal standpoint you know a little more clarity on policy review and um just kind of their model policies and how those are derived um which I thought was a really good meaning um also sent emails and Communications with um superintendent stenvik um with director Henderson over activities and um emails with principal SES is that right cesic um and um I met with Mr Henderson regarding um our um mshsl representation and so we met Yes actually yesterday morning to kind of just give me some understanding of what I could do to support our our schools with mshsl and kind of what um just kind of what they do and and and that kind of thing and um I guess this fall they they have some activities or meetings that I might be involved in at that time if if needed but it was a good meeting I think we we got to know each other and kind of understand just how that uh organiz ation impacts us so um did that and then I would like to get a little more last time um I had a board topic um regarding the social service type organization that it it seems like Anoka County was was paying for some things and I just wanted to to bring that up again because I kind of want to talk about how that money is what kind of money is coming in from Anoka County and where are we spending it specifically so I mean I saw one expense but I didn't see the like how much we're getting so I'd like to ask for that next time is that okay in this part of the process I could put it in the board topics but that's fine but that's it thank you oh I was in the policy meeting just before this that's perfect yeah thank you Julie Jessica thank you um well since our last meeting on March 12th um I participated in the the fourth of four meetings for the core strategic planning team um and I'm just very appreciative that I had the opportunity to participate in that process it was really great to um kind of see the trajectory from data from our community feedback from our community Through the different perspectives of the folks on the core planning team and to see what um ultimately uh they came up with as a framework and so I'm really looking forward to um more discussion at the board level more Community feedback in the next phase um as we move forward with the Strategic plan um I also had the opportunity to help with the Highland book bash back in mid-march um and that was a really fun event they had tons of participation and all of the students and their families um came away with uh lots of books to take home which is always great um I also helped with the book fair at Highland that they had um at that same time over those the the night of the book bash and then into the next day um I participated in the work session with all of you on March 19th um I the policy subcommittee meeting before this meeting um as well as the meeting on policy uh with the representative from msba I also attended the Columbia Academy PTO meeting last week um and then I also watched the most recent um msba webinar they had a school leader panel about the budget um and that's recorded and I got a lot out of that it was really um I guess enlightening to hear um some of the similar struggles um that a lot of our um uh our other school districts are facing when it comes to budget processes and then also to see the ways that some of those challenges are very different um from what we have here in our district and so um I would encourage um my fellow board members to check that out if you haven't I learned a lot from that as well so that's it for me thank you thank you Laura I do not have very much to report um I attended the work the work study session um over at the high school back in March and then the subcommittee on um Community engagement just prior to this meeting that's it thank you Michelle hello um so I also um was able to participate in the um strategic planning core team meeting um I attended three of four um the third one through the fourth one and um yeah it's a great process to be a part of I enjoyed learning about our community U members and and more about our staff and the different schools um it it was a it was a great great opportunity to be a part of that and speak as a parent as well so that was nice to be able to contribute that way um I also attended our work session um on the science of reading we got to chill out in the high school library um and that was actually very fun um very informal and just kind of like a nice little study group so that was fun I like doing it that way um I also attended the um be smart um meeting that that was held at the library um for gun safety and uh it was very enlightening there were a lot of um uh good conversations and acting um no um but it was fun we got to do a little role play and um you know we we had fun with it but we also walked away um with some some great things um and tools um so I can't wait to see see how we move forward with that um I did watch um most of the uh amsd update that was this past Friday um where um our representatives were there and speaking about um School finances and what we're doing to move forward so that was nice to catch um and I also attended the subcommittee on community engagement meeting um just before this that's all for me great very okay um so it was a light month for me as well since our last meeting um I also attended the be smart gun safety meeting hosted by the Columbia Heights Police Department at the library um superintendent stenvik was there um member pway is there and mayor Marquez simila along with other community members um it was really fantastic and um you know they actually had gun locks that they were giving out which I thought was really fantastic um just to be able to also not only practice um you know what would you say in these conversations or in this situation if somebody in your life um you know if they didn't have a gun that was Secure um how would you go about that and I thought that was really impactful and then also leaving was something that people could use um was incredibly helpful I did send superintend a message um later that week and said said that I um had an opportunity to actually use the one of the exact scenarios that she and I had with my own family um so I thought it was really helpful um and just so needed uh not even just not not even just here but um I think around the state it's really important conversation so I'm really grateful for the police department and for superintendent stck and all the people that work together to bring that um to our community uh I have had some conversations with staff and community members um conversation with chair Mueller um uh and I attended the work session last month as well as the chair meetings and uh prior to this meeting the subcommittee on engagement so awesome that is it for me thank you um for my reports um I um also attended the work session um with all you and I did really enjoy our conversation as Michelle said in our in our Circle and I think we should do that more often um regarding our learning um so thank you all for that um I had the opportunity to attend some synchronized swimming meets um I would like to highlight that our JV team which is like the largest JV team in synchronized swimming I think we've had won their meet against Forest Lake last week um so kudos to our JV team um I had conversations with many community members members as well as superintendent stevic and vice chair granin um I attended the chair meeting prior to this as well as the subcommittee on policy um next we have the superintendent's report and correspondence with superintendent seic thank you uh this morning I testified before the sen the Senate education finance committee on a bill that would provide financial support for improving attendance um so a really great collaboration with um School social workers and principles in in in putting together the test testimony so thank you for that uh hopefully that bill goes through and passes I met with the Columbia Heights Police Department to discuss possible collaborative programming that would be Grant funded by them um so some exciting opportunities hopefully those come to fruition as well um and just as a reminder in May we're hoping to meet with some Schoolboard members and some City Council Members not in Quorum of course um for a working group to discuss the school resource officers um and that would Happ after a CH a new Chief is named um as mentioned I too attended the B smart for kids presentation at the Columbia Heights Library um great role playing uh since then I have already been in communication with our local B smart reps um and we're planning on how we can get the message out further um about gun safety and locking up Firearms uh the strategic planning process is still underway and next month the board will be given in will give input excuse me on the draft um strategic priorities I participated in the msba and Minnesota Association of school administrators day at the Capitol um I've had several opportunities to connect with lawmakers um really pushing for fully funding schools of course in all aspects um speaking of the masay I was elected by peers to represent region N9 board of directors um for the min School Association of school administrators so um and then since our last board meeting I had communication with most of the board members thank you for your time great thank you um next we will move on to our K12 activities update so we have um our activities director Jake Henderson and our activities facilitator Crystal vital Schwarz we worried about that that one restart right do I still to share the screen oh okay right chair Mueller members of the board superintendent stenick thank you all for having us um as mentioned sitting next yes yes I can um as mentioned uh I'm sitting next to uh Crystal Vitter vital Schwarz who is our activities facilitator our mission in Columbia Heights is creating world of opportunities for each and every learner all belong all succeed and tonight we will be uh presenting or connecting to all of our core values from Community to Innovation the governance tonight is an informational uh presentation and then uh we're seeking an approval of some fees increase uh on the consent agenda as of April 23rd uh we started our spring season and it really does feel like spring today um so that's really exciting but we wanted to look back and kind of give you some of our winter highlights and updates that we've had um and as always you know this is our our Focus this has been our Focus relatively the same at least for the uh last handful of years that we are just really building and growing our Highlander community in past presentations uh we have just uh given you our participation numbers and again we'll do that and so we do see some Ste steady participation in our winter activities and sports and just a couple that I would like to highlight our speech we've seen a significant increase over the last couple of years um and specifically this past year and then actually our wrestling coach is sitting back there to uh in Mr deppy we saw a very large increase in uh that activity as well this past year we do have participation numbers uh for spring even though this is really a winter update but uh just giving you um again we're seeing relatively steady participation in our activities as we're coming uh now in like our third is year out of covid uh and a couple that I'd just like to highlight here are track and field we're seeing just really large numbers and you know when you look at this this is both high school and middle school just so that you are aware um these are all of those numbers all combined there and so if you'd like a further breakdown I could definitely give you one but um just uh a lot of people out for track and field and then our synchronized swim team that was uh talked about uh a little bit before um has seen an increase in numbers there too and maybe that was a part of that Victory with uh with our JB Squad um we kind of had more of a full JB squad for the first time so that's exciting all right and the the reason that we're really here uh or at least I think the most exciting part for all of you is just to give you some of our updates for from Winter and I'm going to hand it over to Crystal uh to share several of those thanks chair Mueller members of the board superintendent stenvik thank you for having me um as you can see we had a lot and are still excited about a lot that happened this winter uh we had fantastic runs of Cinderella which was our high school School Musical drama Geeks which was our high school one act and SpongeBob which was our Middle School Musical uh our students participated in a variety of opportunities including the tri Metro conference band Festival the tri Metro Fine Arts Festival the Minnesota State High School league Statewide leadership conference we had females participating in female wrestling sections for the first time and we had a really fun night of a combined 6th through 12th grade pet band with like over kids all up top in the balcony uh for one of our boys basketball games we just added to our trophy case today um new hardware for our speech team took the trimetro conference champion and our boys basketball team took second place in their section for double triaa uh and we also had students qualifying for and competing in state competitions from robotics boy swim and speech next okay and then we also have some exciting news regarding grants and funding uh We've jumped at a variety of opportunities to increase funding for our activities Department we'll kind of tag team of some of this but um so previously I presented or asked that we could apply for the Minnesota State High School league Foundation grants uh both A and B uh we received those so that's really exciting um and so we will be using some of those funds number one we'll go to the women's coaching Symposium at the U ofm I think that's on April 19th with a number of our uh female coaches and then we'll be using some of that combined with booster funding to to partner with positive coaching Alliance and do some student and some coach workshops so we're excited about those opportunities um as well as there's there's some other things that'll come down the line too with that money we also applied for and received the US Tennis Association Grant and this will just provide funding for what we've already been doing with when we used for The Encore 21 LC yes that Grant um when we used funding for that to provide uh summer tennis for our 5 through 17 year olds and so we'll be able to continue that with this grant that we received we also have received three years of funding from the Minnesota Vikings uh to develop a middle school girls flag football program and then a couple things that we have applied for and are still hopefully waiting to hear back from uh we applied for funding from the women's sports Foundation sports for Life program and with that request we focused our funding on making sport specifically uniforms and apparel more inclusive and accommodating for our female student athletes and we also were part of the um Columbia Heights Public Schools application for the mde after school Community Learning Grant and the focus for us and the activities Department would be 6th through 12th grade out of schooltime programming so we are looking for funding in all sorts of different places um and just really trying to expand uh and and think kind of outside of the box for any funding that we might be able to use within our Act activities Department to add to the general fund that we get um continuing on the theme of money uh we we are seeking to increase fees a little bit for next year and um so on the screen you'll see some current athletic and activity fees that we have um and then you'll see some proposed fees for next year um and just I want to State this that it is not our goal uh at all to create any more barriers to participation um but just to increase some needed funding for our activities Department um I've been in the activities department for seven years uh now and we've never seen an increase in activities fees uh for for students and uh we all know that everything cost quite a quite a bit more from uh and we know from transportation to equipment to um actually our uh officials fees and so with this increase it would increase roughly depending on how many people we have participating roughly $5,000 it would generate for our activities department and that is roughly the same amount that our officials fees will increase just next year and so um it is kind of a wash there but uh I I do want to say that we also have scholarships available for any student that might need uh a decrease or an an entire scholarship um we have that through our own fundraising dollars that we have and then our Columbia Heights boosters their whole mission is to provide for any student that might not have the means to do so in activities in Columbia Heights and so I can say even though I haven't fully asked them they would be 100% supportive of helping out if that were a need um and I I'll also state that you know in my time and activities we have never denied anyone participation in activ uh in an activity because they weren't able to pay or weren't able to pay the full price um and so our coaches know that um and uh many students and families have come to us and we're able to uh uh scholarship those that need that uh we have really amazing support of our community so with that said um we are seeking an approval of the fee increases on the consent agenda agenda on April 23rd of this month do I want to keep going okay all right um we're going to start a little slideshow that Crystal put together for you I think again these are usually the most exciting oh there is music too it isn't there oh there we go but we probably can't hear that but that's all right um but just some of our pictures from winter activities oh there you go nice it's a little more exciting when there is music yeah we're not going to mess with the audio again no good call wooho love that that it okay it was like a moment of silence and someone needed to hum through the thank you maybe you can take a look at the uh take a look at it again and uh get the music but um just a a really awesome uh presentation of just what our students and our coaches and our advisers and uh what they do and um really fun to celebrate uh what they've done this winter and we're looking forward to a really good spring too so thank you for your time um are there any questions thank you Michelle I have one um what is Environ that's a great question actually we have some participation in there too so yeah I think the picture in there I think that was science Bowl you have Environ is a the particip it's on the participation oh yeah um you caught me out a good one that uh I don't 100% have a great handle on Miss Candela runs and vinon and she has many years it just got added uh last year for the first time um but they are hoping they've got some solid numbers and they've got some Juniors and seniors that are really excited and um I think what they might speak a little bit out of turn here but I think they are tackling some of uh environmental problems and um I don't fully understand quite honestly the um uh competition piece of that though yeah they like eventually go to like the regional competition and then there's like room to move forward but they're preparing for like the one competition and then they would keep going they are hoping for State yeah could could we get um Miss kand to give us a little blurb onon abely thank you Mary um so just a couple things first of all I want to say um thank you to both of you for the presentation and the information uh a massive thank you I think especially to you Crystal because you do such a great job of um Gathering pictures from all of the events and let's be real you take a lot of pictures as personally as well um and it's so wonderful to see all of those things so if we can't make it to different things it's really great because we continue to feel like we're a part of the the activities that are going on so thank you so much um it's one of those maybe unseen parts of your job that people maybe don't realize but um I just want you to know I think it's really really important and thank you for that thank you yeah um secondly so now this is more about um the fees the one question that came up and I know um Jake you and I have we've chatted about this briefly historically too but um there are a few things where um high schoolers are going down to the Middle School to participate in something that's largely at the middle school level so robotics um and vice versa there are some middle schoolers who are taking our on our JV or our varsity teams um can you tell us so I know with robotics um that fee my high schooler ended up paying the high school fee even though robotics is down um down the hill at CA can you help us understand um why we are like those those families and those students to be involved in those um activities whether it's middle schoolers up here at the high school level are paying only middle school fees and conversely like the high school's down for the middle high school fees yeah I guess uh it's it's not 100% clear this is historically how it's been um typically I would say the activities that are housed at the the Middle School are shorter seasons and the coach stips are less and so typically those don't cost as much I would say and and Crystal and I have talked about this briefly when we were discussing the the fees the two activities that we actually run at the middle school are CA Musical and Robotics and those are each really long seasons and we thought about saying those should probably be on the exact same level of our high school activities because they are really long seasons and it's house robotics host at the middle school but it's and I know we don't have a lot of high schoolers participating but it is a high school and a middle school um team so you know our our thought would be we didn't really want to jump up those prices significantly that much and maybe that's something for the future or a future time when we increase fees but you know those are the two activities that we run at the middle school and so really they are long and more expensive uh activities this is just historically how it's been done um as far as we probably have several more we do have several more middle schoolers coming up to the high school to participate um anything that we don't offer spec specifically Middle School only we offer it uh 7 through 12 in terms of High School league activities um or Sports up here and we can do that we can't go to sixth grade because that's a high school League rule um but we can go to 7 through 12 and so we have again historically they pay the Columbia Academy fee of that yet if we take swimming for example all of our teams are 7 through 12 they play the pay the Columbia Academy fee and then they participate on the high school team whether it's JB Varsity lower level Etc um we could up those prices to our actual High School prices I don't think it would make a huge and significant difference um a vast majority of our students are paying the free and reduced prices and so if you look at the athletic fees they at least at the free and reduced prices they're relatively similar whether it's middle school or high school and especially if we were to go to these increased uh fees um so I think I think there is an argument there that you know maybe maybe they should be there I think there's also an argument that that hey hopefully this gets them into the activity and then they're continuing along for all uh six years of that activity um and it maybe you know takes away a little bit of a barrier of whoa that's kind of a sticker shock kind of thing um so I I think there's arguments there for both sides abely can I comment on that you know thank you um because you know when I was first looking at this and I know we had a conversation during the chair meeting I was thinking I'm like well and I I had student who participated you know in seventh grade 8ighth grade and competed on the varsity level paying the middle school fees and I thought well maybe you know these kids should pay the high school fees but I would just as you were saying that I was thinking I'm like well wait a minute I don't know that my child would have tried you know the sport to see if they liked it and wanted to compete in like I for example I had a swimmer there wasn't an option for a middle school swim team um and you know having that little bit lower fee you know made it a little bit easier for the decision of you know yeah try it if you don't like it you know that's fine but if you do like it then there's more opportunities so I I think it's something that maybe you can continue to kick around but if it's not going to you know create a you know additional funding that we may need I would hate to see students not participate in the seventh and eighth grade level because that sport isn't available at the col at Columbia Academy or at the middle school because of M having to pay the high school fee so um I kind of revers my thoughts that I had previously so and I just want to add briefly like I am in full support of the um the activity fees and it being split like that I just know this was a conversation that um was had with other community members um it happened in my own house full transparency um and I think you know exactly it we want people at the end of the day day I just want kids to be able to be involved um and I I think that it makes sense um how it is but uh I super appreciate the explanation and the discussion around it um also can we have the numbers the broken down numbers between the Middle School and the high school in our packet yes like participation numbers yeah participation numbers yes thank you thank you for clarifying thank you guys yeah oh oh sorry go ahead um so we got three years funding from Minnesota Vikings for girls flag football is that a new sport this year because of that Crystal's really spearheaded this a bit um it's uh it is not a new sport at this time no um but you can describe a little bit more of sure I think the Vikings and NFL's goal is to have girls flag be an official sport in high school at some point so they're trying to develop middle school programs right now so that's why they're putting funding into Middle School is with the hope of kind of starting that pipeline so would this be for next fall or when can it's going to start in April but we're going to kind of do some sampler type stuff and then we'll probably have not it'll be a next year yeah like next spring we'll have a season it's not even going to be an official season but we'll kind of run it scrimmages and stuff with other middle schools in inter mural type Style so with this um funding will this mean that the fees are not going there's not going to be fees for that I'm curious as to when we get grants is that reducing our fee structure or is that in addition to the fees this I this would be a separate program that we would run not necessarily on these activity fees it'd be similar to I think what we've done in the past like in Encore um where there's also funding to run um flag football and and it is promoted mostly among girls but they are okay with it being anyone that participates and so our Middle School coach um is excited to to try to promote not only girls flag football but flag football in general um and just try to run some kind of inter mural type leagues and even if we do receive some of that after school grant funding to open that up possibly this summer as well in addition to his um regular football camp that he runs so not an just to clarify so not an official sport at Columbia Heights Public Schools but an kind of an after school program not not with no athletic fees okay and within that they've also donated or are donating to all of our elementary pees flag football kits um and and some other items as well um so it's they were very excited to um help us out in any way flag football um so so um is it a co-b team then or is it just girls probably do like separate I mean we're still developing but the thought would be that they'll all practice at the same time but we'll have separate teams okay so like girls when we go do scrimmages it will be girls playing other girls teams and does the grant cover the the referees for that okay yeah we got to include everything we could think of in the grant coach stiens uniforms equipment okay excellent thank you other questions Jessica um thank you for the presentation I'm always really appreciative and I get a lot from these activity updates I think you know uh we we get to see and some of some of these um activities and events in action we get to hear some of the highlights here at the board table I think seeing the full scope like the depth and the breadth of the activities that we offer every term is really amazing I think that's a point of differentiation for us as a district with the small size that we are and one thing that I really appreciate is the diversity of activities um that are offered to all all of our students and that's such a testament to all of your hard work going after grants going after all these opportunities so thank you very much for for doing that and thanks for including the participation numbers too because that's just really awesome to see the full impact um of all of those opportunities for our students so I think that's really great um I did have a a couple of thoughts about the fees and I I I do really appreciate um the comments that you made about you know thinking about these fees in terms of what has the trend line been for fee increases in your time here and that that's not increases in these activity fees is not an annual thing or hasn't we don't have a history of raising our fees on a very regular basis um and I also appreciate you your recognition of activity fees as a potential barrier for participation for some of our students um I think when you look at the goals that you kind of laid out at the beginning of this presentation about um the the the goals the focus of the activities you know it's about being inclusive being a core component of what we're trying to do and um although sometimes necessary I think any increase in those fees can can certainly constitute a barrier um and and cut against sort of that goal of inclusivity so I appreciate you you know know coming to the table with with that recognition um I know you talked about scholarship opportunities that we have um for participation now um you know other potential that we have with with the boosters I'm just wondering if you could talk a little bit about um how we connect um students with those scholarships and how a student or a family might disclose their need for such a scholarship sure um we don't I would say don't have it written down or in like our activities updates it's not explicitly stated there that a scholarship you know if you need one um come to us but uh within uh Scott opat that our Middle School who kind of heads up our uh activities down there um he connects with families and with students and um anytime that there's a need whether it's communicated by a student or family um we wave that fee Etc um same with our social workers and um anyone that might work our uh liaison as well um all know that that's an option for them and all of our coaches do as well um so I do I do think there's a barrier because you you have to actually ask to it um and it's not explicitly stated necessarily on our our website so um I definitely acknowledge that piece um um but I I also think that there is a um the students know as well that you know if if there is a need and all of our advisers and coaches have communicated that too especially to our returners that like hey I I can't make this fee or we've got six people uh you know doing speech or and knowledgeable and you know there's just fee after fee after fee while it is you know a 10 or a $20 fee it all adds up and then um we've had several of our students just come um Miss Candela has asked about hey can we knock off these fees for this student and then I just have a conversation with them so um everyone surrounded by our activities Department uh knows that that that is an option um I don't know what the right uh way to communicate that out to all of our families without it all you know it without having too too many people come I I guess is my um my struggle with that yeah no and I can appreciate that I think you know in laying out the rationale for the the fee increases like we have to pay those increased costs if we want to continue to offer these opportunities to students so I totally understand that um but I think when I look at like if you increase fees you say by5 or $10 it generates $5,000 for the activities Department like $5,000 although it's like that's necessary money we need that money but $5,000 in the scope of you know our resources as a district versus what doubling the the fee might be for students who already qualify for the fee rate um there's just a little bit of a a disconnect there and I think about I just would hate for and we talk about sort of this pathway from middle school activities in athletics into High School and I just I would hate for there to be a student who would be you know really find their home or thrive in robotics or synchronized swimming or or something else um and not know that there's a path available to them or not want to know know who to or be comfortable with disclosing um financial needs so I don't know what the right solution is to that again I know that we have to pay the increased costs because they're increased costs um but that that is I don't know I am I am concerned by that because I I just I I just have this idea of students in my mind that maybe don't get to connect with their passion or the thing that really helps them succeed because they um finances are a barrier to that so um I appreciate that there are scholarship opportunities for family and I really um thank you for more explanation about how kind of students are connected with that and I I think there may be you know more more opportunities to sort of build those connections and make sure that those resources are getting to those who need it um so I guess that's all I would say is um that I would really want us to continue to think about how we build the capacity to um fund participation for students who might need that yeah and I wonder thank you for that um I appreciate that if uh I wonder if it's a at the bottom of our you know reg spring registration is open uh messages that go out is scholarship opportunities are available please don't let uh fees be a barrier to your participation and type of thing and it it can go out to families it can also go out to all their students too thank you for that yeah thank you Michelle ch um I had a couple so um I guess I'll I'll my question was about that I had something else too so I'll just go with that since we're talking about it so I I guess I'm I'm wanting to know how it's determined that someone will pay reduced or free like you know if it's um a lunch situation like there's like a form filled out and it's through like the state and so we know where this child fits we know where the student fits um and so if the scholarship is based off of kind of word of mouth or just your own discernment right of who may need this help like how is the rest being classified the free and reduced lunch is from the educational benefits benefits um that they would fill out um now it has made it I'll be honest it's made it a little bit more challenging while free lunch for everyone is awesome um it has made it a little bit more challenging and we never like when we have those conversations with students and they are go to online to pay sometimes the full fee comes up because their family hasn't filled out um and we have those conversations we say all right put in um you know we have a a workaround type of a thing where okay we'd like your family to fill this out we'll see if they qualify type of a thing but you get registered and we'll talk to you about payment later type of a thing um and so it all comes from those educational benefits though okay and that's direct into our system from um our our link online or our finance department I mean I I like that it's it's very close-knit um and and the feeling I get is that everyone is kind of um rallying and supporting um and so I don't know I I appreciate Jessica what you're saying where it's like where do we put how to access this resource right um but I also I do value that you know they they may just know that they have help if they if they need it I think that is the environment that you are fostering um and so I I I kind of like that too that there's just a sense of support there and they know if they need help they can ask you um I was also going to ask what happens if there is um little or no participation so say we have like like um hockey on here and it's like one which I I don't understand how to do they go somewhere else to play okay just let them have it the heights hockey team of one it sounds about right um so I guess you know like with um with academics right cuz if there aren't enough like sometimes a class will get cut like are there certain sports or activities that we have to offer or is this like a a choice list that um the students pick or uh this is uh the list for the most part um that is in our uh contract our teachers contract right now at least this I think everything on there is on that um and so some of these things where we have low participation like if you look at gymnastics or hockey um we used to have a team around those our own team now we have co-opt with several schools three well three total in gymnastics and four total in hockey um and so if we don't have participation in those things we will get rid of those um those activities and so um as you know and this is a point that we um are trying to have that conversation is what activities do we see growing and what new activities do we want to see growing and we have a survey that grows out goes out to all of our students every single year um and it has to go out every two years per the Minnesota State High School league and so where do we go when we don't have any of those and how do those kind of fall behind on the Wayside and then we see participation in in things like wrestling which are picking up or if you take boys and girls soccer in the fall like those numbers are getting really really large and um trying to figure figure out ways where we can have more teams and more students participating in those things is um is kind of what uh you know we is what we've been doing um sometimes uh some of these activities if you go to LaCrosse or Synchro those are um also co-opt and we have D Sal students coming in for both of those things um to make it so that we can have two a lower and an upper level team and and and teams can and students can play kind of more at their own level um same with actually baseball and uh softball on this list too um those are with different team or different schools but um we've tried to give students as many opportunities as possible as well as get them at a level where like they can actually play um in terms of of their skill level too thank you other questions J um so the other day we talked a little bit about boys volleyball um I know that when we have we have a unique school with half of um half of our students being English Learners coming from potentially other countries that have more experience with certain Sports than maybe American Sports so um volleyball is one where it's very popular across Europe and South America you know and so I was curious as to um you know is that a sport we're looking to add coming up or you know and how do we add a sport that is also a conversation that we're having uh I superintendent stenvik you can correct me from wrong like we with our Union right now and how does that uh how does an activity get at it or how does an activity kind of get taken off of these things um we're trying to first of all access some grants to add activities that we currently don't have funding for so that's one Avenue that we've been trying to utilize um The Encore grant that we had previously we were able to take a look at hey let's take a look at um uh cross country before we actually added it uh let's take a look at um cheer before we added it um I think we also did youth in government and some other uh things that we because we don't have that funding right now um we weren't able to do but those were Avenues where it did eventually get added to the teacher contract and Schedule D um we're seeking other opportunities for that grant funding boys volleyball in particular we did have high numbers on our survey that we wanted to add it's a it's an expensive ad and so we explored probably all options that we could I think we looked at co-oping um because we share costs in that but it's proportional to how many students we have and so when we look at that and we've got we're going to have 75 to 80% of the students are really not saving the the funds there unfortunately um but it's a it's a really big ad in terms of uh startup costs with with uniforms Etc and then if we add something um I'm very or I want to make sure that it's not like we we fund raise significant funds every single year by doing tournaments in the Highlander Center and other ways but if we're going to add something I want to make sure that it's sustainable and we're not just adding it we've got the funding for it this year and what happens next year type of a thing so we just want to make sure that we're sustainable in that but that is a conversation that we're having um with our our Union right now and it's um something that uh I'm excited to have a a solidifi more solidified process for it thank you yeah other questions um I have just one um final note um as uh Jak you had said that this would be on the consent agenda um at our April 23rd meeting um I would like this to be as an action item and not on the consent agenda so we can can if we need to have further conversation about fee increases for students and families sounds good any other questions thank you both for your dedication your time here and like answering all of our questions today um you do important work so thank you for that thank you all uh we appreciate the questions too we do thank you a all right next we will have our blooming Heights update um and we have director sunl and Melissa Trent our agricultural [Music] Specialists chair Mueller members of the board superintendent stenvik uh we're here this evening to do a presentation about blooming Heights our program and also an introduction of Melissa Trent our agriculture specialist so our mission is is creating worlds of opportunity for each and every learner all belong all succeed and this evening uh with us with this presentation you'll hear specifically the core values of community collaboration respect and Innovation and of course all of our work all of our core values is aligned with the district's with the school board's Equity statement and with that I'm going to turn it over to Melissa thank you Kristen um hi hi everyone I'm Melissa Trent I am our school district's new uh agriculture specialist I started in August um so I've been here just about six months and I have a long history of experience within um youth coordination and agricultural programs that I won't uh continue on about uh blooming Heights is a Columbia Heights Public School program that uses school garden and nutrition programming to facilitate itate Equitable experiences that engage all the senses while building the skills and knowledge necessary for cultivating a healthy life and planet and I will talk a bit about how we do all of that today um here are our guiding principles and for the sake of time I won't read them all to you um but I'll just highlight the first one we're committed to Hands-On teaching and learning that highlights Beauty wonder and joy and encourages positive positive risk-taking I think I'll T touch on each of these guiding principles throughout our talk today um so Kristen always says that blooming Heights is the classroom with the highest ceiling or the most beautiful ceiling most beautiful yeah kind of both um and I would like to add and it also has unlimited teaching tools um while we know that students are doing a vast amount of learning within with inside of those four walls s of the classroom um they can all we can also bring those learnings to life um by offering experiential learning in the garden and we do that by inviting um classrooms studying many different subjects um so just a little overview um this is a bit of a repeat of our mission and what we do in with the blooming Heights program but we provide yearr round age specific lessons to each and every learner um so we work with we call it e i I was calling it prek e through adult um students and Learners um and each lesson incorporates a Hands-On component we offer a lot of options for movement and activity in our garden lessons as well as our indoor classroom lessons and we provide nutrition science and garden themed activities to all of our students um I think I think one really important part of our program is that we incentivize Discovery through the use of all of our senses um students spend a lot of time Reading Writing and learning through Powerpoints and talks but um I think that the opportunity to use all of the senses to continue that learning is a great benefit that blooming Heights can offer and we build new Partnerships um which I'll talk about later so since I began in August I just wanted to share a little bit of our impact um egg specialists in the past have sent out surveys and documented the number of classes they've visited really well um mine is a pretty good estimate so um just between August when I started and now um we served students we we made apple cider with over 200 students um so we have we have 16 apple trees in our blooming Heights Garden that were planted long ago with um the efforts of many staff and a ship Grant and those apple trees are still very healthy and providing us with fresh apples every fall that students get very excited to pick and wash to make cider um I think this is a highlight of our program um since I've started so many students who visit the garden immediately tell me that they remember when they made apple cider with Mr Wes or myself um so just a little bit about our school year programs I'll try to be concise because I will admit I wrote a bit of an essay to share with you all very passionate about my work but I will try to be uh concise um so during the school year uh I work with ECFE prek and Adventure Club our out of school time programs um meet with them on out of school days as well as during some school days um I think one of the highlights here we focus a lot on sensory exploration taste tests um learning basics of nutrition and Hands-On activities um but one of the highlights here in the photos you see are um we were able to roast three different squash varieties that we sampled with students um so we had a taste test they used their descriptive words to describe the flavor and texture of those squash and we were able to introduce them to a couple of new vegetables um so we do everything from taste testing cooking to um getting their hands dirty in the soil these students in the bottom corner um actually helped us to start pepper plants that we'll plant this summer okay so I also visit North High Valley View in Highland um I work pretty closely with the uh science Specialists and the leap teachers at these three schools um one of the highlights of working with these three schools I would say I'd like to talk about is a partnership with between um science specialist Stan morz and I at the beginning of every school year going forward um we will be working with students in all grades to talk about um composting sustainability and recycling because they as you might know um have a biodigestor and they instead of throwing away their food waste make compost from it so we do Hands-On workshops very fast-paced with all of the students at the beginning of the school year to to let them know how important um their sorting ability is and how they have an impact on their local community by um preventing that waste so um the gardening program does cool down or get put to bed for the fall but that doesn't does not mean blooming Heights programming stops during the winter months um we are busy providing Native American history lessons to students K through five prek really um and through those lessons we're able to share a brief history and some facts about Dakota and ojibway history um as we know Dakota and or jigu people were the first people to live here in Minnesota so we're able to highlight that and really have a conversation about that um recognizing that many of our students are native and that um those students could be in the classrooms that we're teaching um and then they really get to connect through their senses and cross-culturally by sampling a bit of wild rice that's made right in front of them um I think this lesson also really highlights um or offers students the opportunity to learn about respect for one another and cultural values we um use the wild rice tasting experience to talk about that and in the younger grades we call it not yucking someone's yum um but while these foods are very important and sacred to the ojibway people some students might like the taste some students might not be familiar so we just ask that um if they don't like it they say it's not their favorite out of respect also for the cook um I would say in my experience here uh we have a lot lot of support from teachers districtwide and I don't really enjoy talking about myself but I was encouraged to share this quote that um science specialist danan morz shared with me um he says students love gardening with our District's agriculture specialist Miss Melissa um at North Park School for Innovation from engaging indoor lessons to the exciting outdoor lessons in North Park's Courtyard Garden students attitudes toward nature sustainability and Discovery are always evident research confirms the multitude of benefits that students get from having regular access to school Gardens and we are so fortunate thank [Laughter] you um one of I'm probably going to say the word highlight a lot I really enjoy my job um another important part of my job that I really enjoy is leading the Encore after school program at Highland Elementary um this year I offered it in the fall and the spring with another co- teer Megan adamsky who's incredibly helpful um so through that program we offer a sort of seed to plate science focused after school club and students get a lot of opportunities to use their hands to observe plants growing um and really they get to plant seeds that they later Harvest and are able to eat and prepare so we learn a lot about the science behind gardening and plant biology um while also enjoying some tasty affordable healthy snacks oh sorry I really like that picture um this photo is from the fall it was uh our November lesson pretty near to Thanksgiving um and we prepared a variety of Minnesota Native Foods like squash and wild rice in order to talk a bit about um the true of Thanksgiving um this is just a quote I pulled out from a fairly old report um just to show that there are many studies saying that gardening and um access to healthy nutritious Foods inspires students going forward so children who have a chance to grow Harvest prepare and eat healthy food are more likely to make healthy choices on their own and that's fairly widely known now um the busiest time I or the most time I spend at the middle school and high school are during the fall Fall's a very busy time it's the harvest season everyone's excited to be back to school and teachers are excited to visit the garden with their classes um it's a great introduction to the school year it's a way to um move throughout our Outdoor Classroom and acclimate back to the school year and then we also have you know an abund abundance of living plants that we can use and teach about um so some highlights are is Christ still here oh yeah Kristen C carello wonderful teacher um she brings her classes out to um we talk about we have read um The Honorable Harvest from a Native American author who talks about the principles of how we Harvest and how to do so us sustainably um are also a handful of world history classes that come out to the Garden to talk about the origin of vegetables and where they came from um and that's also an opportunity to connect with different cultures and areas of the world discovering these significant vegetables that we are used to seeing every day that originated somewhere else and I spend um I have two units that I teach with Miss Tre I call her Miss T Y she is the culinary arts teacher she teaches a farm to well we co- te a farm to Fork unit within her um foundations of food class she also teaches Global Foods um and through that students are able to assist with gardening and we're actually going to be planting um a salad garden with each of the classes next Monday that they'll get to harvest in May um this is just another picture I guess I really like to highlight native Minnesotan Foods this is a picture that um from last semester when during a global Foods class we talked about Minnesota native foods and Miss Yolanda our Native American liaison also co-top that class with me to talk about the sacred Dakota and ojibway foods that we prepared with students and um another highlight I'd like to share with you are the um consistently weekly lessons I'm able to engage with um sped and anchor students both at the middle school and the high school um those students visit the blooming Heights classroom weekly um either indoor outdoor weather dependent and we really have an opportunity with those students to build on the curriculum so we can really teach a lot of different subjects and build upon them since we are able to visit one another weekly um and they do things from nutrition and meal planning um all the way up to planting seeds harvesting and helping to maintain the garden um I think that they really learn a lot about community Through um our activities together because we engage with people passing by in the garden they feel a sense of responsibility to help maintain um and then we're also hoping to provide them with with those essential life skills they need to prepare a basic meal once they graduate and then in the summer um the summer is action-packed it's a busy time and um it's a time of really wonder and um Sunshine but we throughout the summertime we know that students most students leave for the summer um but I stay busy um with the ECFE programs that I meet with weekly we have a spring ECFE group beginning in just a week I believe that's a nature play focused class where um children and their parents will attend and we do a lesson together and then they break out um their students and the adults separate while we engage in activities outdoors um I'm hoping uh exclude the summer field trips well we'll see we might having summer field trips um and then Adventure Club and mini Adventures will visit the garden weekly and we have a um Summer Long curriculum that will be happening um some updates on that I'm very excited to have acquired um a few pieces of a pollinator Hive a honeybee Hive and I'm also hoping to acquire a honeybee costume that I can engage better with those younger students in a more playful manner to teach them about pollination in the garden um we'll also be hiring at least I'm hoping more than five but at least five high school student interns to help maintain the garden this summer and that's a partnership with the NOA County Job Program oh and there it is yep um so they'll do a they'll learn a variety of skills they'll also have an opportunity to work on special projects and with these youth I'm also in tending to focus on highlighting bipo voices in the scientific and farm community um right now there is a a nationwide challenge that we're facing where our farm our farming Pro population is aging and predominantly white so through this program I think it's a simple way to highlight those voices um in order to encourage students to participate more in gardening and farming in the future and I just want to say that it's very validating um to hear from students that they're interested in becoming a farmer and I've heard that from two students this year um and as Kristen mentioned that Pro program will be paid for um it's a partnership through the inoka county empowers program and lastly uh Kristen and I have received two grants this year well for the blooming Heights program you've probably achieved many more um the Melinda Von on school pollinator fund do you want to talk about that Earl yeah just very briefly because I know we're we're running long but uh we'll be adding a pollinator Garden on the outside of the family center and that's with uh the Melinda Von pollinator Grant and that's a $2,000 Grant and um so Melissa has worked with classes to identify the plants and then we're partnering with rotary and other community groups with operation pollination to do the preparation so it's really a community effort and then there will be a DNR grant that will start next year for an after school program at CA yeah okay Lots going on you received all this in your packet so just a reminder we established blooming Heights in 2010 so this has been in existence for 14 years it's really something that we can feel proud about as a school district thank you yeah I have a question um so I know in Minnesota we have dormant planting you know during the winter right so are we using Hydroponics or anything like that that can have classes kind of continue to go through the winter and still have a harvest still kind of do that so yeah I can speak to that um we have a couple of ways to continue growing throughout the winter months um we have a few Tower Gardens that are districtwide that we have been utilizing one that simply utilizes water and nutrients and a light system to you can grow things like salad greens and herbs so we used that with the anchor program and also um one of Miss T's cooking classes um I know that they're also um hoping to utilize one for the elementary Encore group in at Valley View okay yep and then on top of that through that Melinda Von grant program we were able to um they donated milk jugs to to form winter green houses to start pollinator plants with Miss Kerber and Miss Hat's class and so they're kind of experimenting with those checking on them week weekly daily yeah and then um lastly we were able to grow micro greens with I want to say six classes which don't need a lot of resources or light so we were able to you can plant and harvest within 2 weeks with those and then um I I noticed that you know you brought up the farm retire I mean we have a lot of Aging population no matter where they are but um farming is you know a lot of family-owned Farms are not going back to the you know the kids aren't necessarily taking them on um I know because I worked in finance for farming and I I think getting our children exposed I'm just going to make a comment is so important for them to understand where their food comes from because a lot of kids especially City kids you know they look at a milk cart and they have no idea necessarily where that's coming from that a cowl produces that so um I really appreciate what this this program is doing I think it's really necessary so thank you for for the work you're doing appreciate it thank you and let me just say that because we've done it for so long children have experience blooming Heights as preschoolers and at every grade all the way through differently development mentally so thank you for your support for that Mary um just a couple things so yes Kristen thank you so much for letting us know when it started cuz I was going to ask that um this presentation was wonderful um and I really appreciated you know the look at this is all of the thing these are all of the ways um and I was going to make that comment to Kristen at the end um it has been really wonderful to see this um blue Heights just continue to grow and Thrive and know that other districts are coming and asking us questions um so thank you for being a Pioneer in that Kristen um and also thank you Melissa for coming and taking this on um I also just want to say it's 7:30 and seeing all of those food pictures is been a little bit little bit hard but um no thank you so much for that I really appreciate itk you NE next time we can do a taste test yeah thought about it only if you harvest it I'll see you in June um so I my question is um for like for the elementary schools um because they all have their own thing right their own identities and programs and things that they do well um and so I know North Park kind of heads up a lot of the um sustainability and stem stuff in that way um but you know I see stuff at Highland that's going on wondering if Valley View and North Park have that same experience and vice versa for the other two like is there like um a curriculum or an an idea going across that all the elementary school students who are going to meet up in middle school you know at the same time are they going to all get the same um experience yeah I would say that's definitely the goal of the program and we have age specific curriculum that I offer I offer the same like three lessons to each grade level and they're able to select um from those three lessons what their grade levels most interested in learning about so I would say roughly yes I don't think we're quite at the point where um we're able to offer like the exact lesson to each but I would say that every um grade level gets roughly the same experience the lesson with the N with the um wild rice that is an expectation that all of the classes parti ipate otherwise the programming with blooming Heights is on offer to to teachers but it's not said it's our expectation that all of the third graders are going to do that so that's a little with the Native American one it is the expectation that all the students with the other ones we say you have this opportunity and then if the teachers are interested they say yes but in general um the grade level teachers typically align and so they try to um we try to facilitate a class that mirrors some subject that they're teaching about already that way students can engage further with the material yeah any other questions thank you so much for your time today Anda we appreciate your passion so thank you thank you thank you all all right next we have our transportation contract with director Henkin this will be far less exciting uh thank you chair meller members of the board and superintendent stck just give me a second it should be in here um in front of me okay okay so this evening student transportation contract um so our mission colum Heights Public School is creating worlds of opportunity for each and every learner all belong all succeed and our core values of community Excellence collaboration Integrity respect courage and Innovation all aligning with our uh Board of Education Equity statement so this evening this is just an informational presentation I will bring this back at the April 23rd board meeting seeking approval as an action item so with our student transportation contract our current contract is ending at the end of or actually technically it ends at the end of July um and uh um we um had in our previous contract extended our contract um a two additional years and then we did a direct negotiation um with our transportation company um and you know through a discussion um decided that it was definitely in our best interest to go out for requests for quotes um to see if there was um a better price out there um and what other providers were interested in our business or could do our business um so on December 12th uh the board gave authorization to post um for those quotes in the paper and we had a mandatory informational meeting with perspective vendors um in July January 11th um that time um we had a lot of Hope for the number of responses we were going to get um we had a lot of participation we had we thought we had four um transportation companies that were very interested and would provide quotes at that time um and we ended up receiving one response for yellow bus services and three formal declines um just the main reason for the declines um well the biggest reason um is is just resources uh the availability to take on the number of buses that we needed and to provide those resources um you know obviously having a a Transportation Hub near to us is important and um two for sure and and a third one um we felt did um so they were close enough for us to be able to do that um we felt like they really would have the available buses for us but it takes more resources than just available buses and being closest close enough to us geographically so we received one yellow bus service um quote which is from our current provider um again as always key factors in driving this conversation are you know driver shortage is still are a problem that's the primary resource we're talking about and can they take on additional um um or additional contract additional District our size um so that capacity um um and then inflation um of course is still a driving factor for us um obviously things have cooled off quite a bit and um um so hopefully they continue to do that even though it's kind of hanging in there um and uh so moving forward that we don't see the Steep increases we've seen over the last two years so just a reminder of what we came into this year with a 11.4% increase which is a very significant increase in transportation when it's a contract that's $4 and. half to $5 million um so these were the rates um that they came in at that 11.4% increase so that's what we came into this year this is what we're ending on um so actually feel very good about um what our rates are for next year um so approximately a 2.5% increase overall for next year um with his current contract so for the 24 25 school year um so you can see what those those main categories are the regular routes so those large yellow buses special education routes um again yellow buses um mostly the smaller yellow buses um and then the hourly rates and the field trip rates um and the aid rates so all of that went up um the regular Ed routes um went up the least amount and then the other ones went up more special ed um was a was a decent jump um but overall about a 2.5% increase is what we project on the transportation costs um for this next year um and so with this contract um and the contract is should be in your board packet um it uh it's August 1 uh 2024 through July 31st 2026 it looks weird because the contract always continues into that summer programming that's its intention so running summer school so um the current contract that we have right now any summer programming run in June and July will live and be priced off of that the existing contract we have right now the new contract will kick in in August um so that's that's traditionally how it's done um again so that contract covers the summer and then you start you know basically for the next school year um so for the 25 26 school year um it's the Consumer Price Index uh with a minimum of 3% and a cap of 5% so one of of the things that we saw in previous contracts was um this same language um uh it was at 2% but it didn't have a cap and um we did see two years ago an 8% increase or an 8.9 I forget what it was exactly um it was between 8 and 9% uh increase and that was just based off of the Consumer Price Index at a certain point in time and um so one of the things that I talked a lot about in this contract was getting a cap um um so that if we did see something inflationary go through the rough um at a certain point in time that um we at least had it kept um so um other districts were doing the same thing so it would made it easier for us to um the TR for us to have that conversation with the transportation company because we're not the only ones asking for it and so I was happy to see that cap of 5% um so that we won't see that 8 or 9% increase um or less 7.4% increase at least in the near future um so this contract like the previous contract can be um Extended for two additional years um and again of the same language of the minimum 3% maximum 5% increase depending on the Consumer Price Index so that's I think uh really good news compared to where we were um the last couple years um so um you know very happy with that um and we continue to work with our current transportation company to you know work through the things where we have problems um we're always going to have um things happen in transportation and issues and um there we still deal with um driver shortages at times um they continue to be a problem we have had our routes filled um pretty consistently since you know after we got about four to six weeks into the school year um there's been a couple times times where we were short um but for the most part this year it's been the best year so far coming out of CO as far as successfully filling our routes and not having as many large delays even though at the start of the Year there was a couple um Windows of time where we were seeing that um so um we like I said we'll continue to push that and um and you know we do feel confident that we can continue to work through and and get better service in those areas uh with Monarch thank you questions Mary um thank you so much for this uh I know historically um we've talked about the sped funding um for the transportation are we billing Insurance um when we're allowed I I don't know if everybody knows that um that that's something that we're able to do in some circumstances so are we able to do that St yes we are um we work with school project um and uh they help us to make sure that we're for any ma billing that we can do um that we are doing um so that we can receive that funding back um we see it in the budget um there's a line item in restricted funds um so third party billing ma um that uh you know that that fund balance that's that funding is generated through billing back for things and and uh I would say historically no we were not um and uh but we have started doing that and um I do believe in the future we you know we just become more proficient at it because it is newer for us and then is um the sped Transportation um is Monarch also providing that or is that um separate in Billing through like the various um uh medical transportation companies okay good question um so Monarch provides our our yellow bus service and so that includes all special education yellow bus service um we do have special education transportation that happens on Vans we have homeless transportation that happens on Vans we have care and treatment that happens on vans vans are a big part of Transportation this contract focused on service within well it was yellow bus service and then van service within our boundaries so they don't Monarch does not do a lot of van service at all because we don't have a large a large amount of van service that happens within the boundaries of Columbia Heights most of our van service is run through CST which is separate um and and they work with a lot of Van companies we have a separate contract we didn't bid that part out outside of our boundaries and that's you know the care and treatment and the homeless and it is a significant cost um to the district um um you know homeless is is re you know real and and the cost to transport them is real and mckin vento you know really outlines what we have to do with that and so um that that continues to be but that's separate and we did not put that out for requests for quotes um at this point we use CST instead of us Contracting specifically with one two 3 4 van service companies we contract with CST and then they they have access to to all of those companies um so that CU in the past when we were doing that say 8 10 years ago um or 6 eight years ago um we had one Van Company then we had two then we had three and we you know and we just couldn't get enough service from one Van Company then we couldn't get it from two then we couldn't get it from three so CST can much better provide that for us yep uh I've had to do that historically uh at previous jobs so I can absolutely confirmed that it is it is time consuming so I'm I'm glad to hear that we have a a company that's helping with that so yes thank you so much yeah Julie so maybe this is kind of tied to what you were talking about but um I've had a Community member come up to me on Tuesday last week and asked me do we pay for busing for the kids that are open and rolled across all these cities and I guess I don't know that answer answer I mean and if we have homeless children at I'm not sure how that ties in are they in do we have homeless shelters here in I mean I'm trying to understand do we have homeless shelters here in Columbia Heights and those kids from those shelters are coming here or is it anywhere in this in the metro area and we're getting a van over to them in Minneapolis or something and bringing them in so could you kind of give me a sure um with mckin vento so there's law in place that says that you know gives stipulations on what defines as a homeless and so so if a student is categorized as homeless and so they lost their let's just say they lived in Heights and they lost their permanent residence there um due to you know Dad lost a job Mom lost a job um you know whatever the situation may have been and now they're you know at a shelter let's say in St Paul um or in Minneapolis at Mary's Place um and um or they're they're they're at a relative's house in St Paul in order to not interrupt their their education here I mean this is basically saying that we will send trans for transportation and we will pay for it to go get them and bring them here to not disrupt their education here um it can get pretty widespread it really can um we do work with mde to try to restrict that a little bit um so you know if somebody's um um I'm trying I used a really bad example earlier today where that was like 10 hours away um but let's um let's say their their um I feel like it was ianti or something like an hour away there was the real example s it was good so they're let's just say they're an hour plus away it doesn't it's any reasonable person would say that a student riding a van one way to school for an hour and 15 minutes an hour and a half or two hours to get to school here is more of a disruption than them because of their homelessness or you know loss of housing situation instead of them going to another school because that's just one way so they're they're sitting in a van for two hours or more a day so in those circumstances we don't we we can you know provide we can work to to get an alternative and they go to the school where they're living but you know somebody that has a financial um situation where they're in a homeless shelter are there at a relatives they could be you know at this home in St Paul this this month they could be in Minneapolis the next month they could be um in Maple Grove the next month and they're moving around and so you know you think about trying to get them to move from school to school in that time frame so really this is trying to keep them here keep them in their where they're comfortable where they're learning and it's just that Transportation there's there's lots of conversation about the funding for this because the cost for you know coming out of covid especially we've seen van costs go through the roof and um I mean they just exploded in that category of where that expense goes and so we're working towards you know now there um homeless transportation and how that there's maybe a reimbursement component of that um similar to what you see for special education Transportation um so you know we're hopeful we're writing a a grant right now um that will have some reimbursement for transportation expenses with homeless um so I think it's due at the end of the week um so we're we're trying to find avenues for revenue for that um we're trying to work with the state um and I think that they really are understanding that this is a real problem um in a real cost to districts um and I mean in one year I mean we we saw in that category costs go up by you know almost 34 of a million dollars and so it's it's it's BigTime real dollars so it's significant and that that was in 22 where we saw about a million dollars increase in in transportation costs and almost all of that was coming out of a homeless increase in transportation costs which is you know how are we going to predict that so um the so sir circling back to the the other part of my question is the open enrollment so we you know traditionally we've had a boundry within um uh you know you know started back in the choices yours program era um in Minneapolis North Northeast Minneapolis um we've continued that boundary that's where we sell send yellow buses and have routes within we don't have routes outside of that area I mean in the transportation contract and I gave you a color one um it it was hard to see in the black and white um so thanks for the request um and uh so that just kind of shows where we're busing right now yellow buses and so we continue to do that um I have done it for you know more than a handful of years uh for a very long time that's been our our our routing and Boundary for routing um so that's where we send buses so we don't in Fridley we don't in St Anthony we don't MSU we don't we don't send them um outside of that other um area we're just sending them to to Minneapolis is that something that the board can restrict for instance you know we've kind of talked about how to save some money um and I know open enrollment is a law I get that but I'm just trying to think about ways that you know we kind of talk about you know busing is expensive and when we have economic downturns we have have issues with more homeless more issues there so is it possible to restrict this you know to just our community and not have it go out to um communities that are more open enrollment um yes I mean our we can control um the transportation into other communities like Minneapolis um I can tell you right now that um the current students that we transport into the district far exceed the revenues far exceed the expenses um um so it's uh it's right now um you know we have we've had um between four 600ish um students that we've been um we have from Minneapolis um I think we're you know more on the 600ish you know we in the last five plus years I mean I would say probably six seven eight years we've had 400 or more um and so it's a it's a massive part of our enrollment really in the size of our district um right now so it would it it definitely pays for itself and then and then some from that conversation and I think because that's this has been our boundary in our it's really been our community I mean I feel like it has been um so um it hasn't changed in a very long time and that portion of the community is just we they've been here so I just see it as you know really what we see in that piece of paper and the yellow and the blue is really our our community as far as our our school system goes thank you yeah Mary um can I just add something to what you said so um when you're talking about uh the students who um are homeless it's homeless and highly mobile and you talked about that um and but one thing that's really really important is the definition of homelessness depends on how what lens you're looking at it through and for us it's that law um for other services that are provided and this is something that it's getting into the weeds a slight bit but I think it's really important because um for other services homeless and highly mobile is Def find um differently maybe in at the county level for for inclusion and services there um at the city level sometimes for inclusion and services there but for us that is the law that we are following and I think it's kind of important to just call that out especially since you know we're getting questions about um the services that we provide and to know that um we're following the mckin vento um law as we're required to do but um people have may have questions about why do families get this service and not this thing and it it's it's all sort of um it comes down to county state school district um level so I wanted to just sort of uh make a comment about that so thank you and member granin I really appreciate that um just kind of giving me some context because you know I am getting questions on you know why are we doing all of this as things pop up it's kind of like you know what is that and is that really the purpose of school versus a county or a city or a nonprofit organization and so that's why I'm asking these questions because I'm getting these questions no absolutely so thank you yeah thought I'd take us in Leeds a second on that so thanks Michelle um I'm just curious because I don't want to keep going with the homelessness thing but um while um you were talking I was wondering if it was Tim restrictive right because I mean someone could say that their whole entire academic career um and really they just don't live here anymore so does it go by is there like a certain time restriction for that specific service go ahead my understanding is that the they're qualify or not each school year for to are categorized as homeless and highly mobile so it's the duration is school year yeah okay thank you yeah and how long you are um like couch surfing is the is the qual term for it um there's also like a set amount of time that that has to happen in order to qualify so if I'm spending a week at my friend's house because my house is getting fixed or whatever um that may not meet and don't quote me on it because I'm not going to I don't know if I have that law and it might be actually helpful if we could get a copy of that um yep the law in our packet as well um but you know there are there are time durations on maybe one week isn't enough but it's two weeks or it's four weeks I can't quite remember um but that's yeah thank you m any other questions all right we will be prepared to take action on that item at the April 23rd meeting and director henkins you're more than welcome to just stay right there if you want we'll be back here in just a minute more than welcome all right um next on our agenda is the policy first reading um so um for our policy first reading we have 405 Veterans Preference 409 employee publication 410 family medical leave policy 413 harassment and violence 711 video recording on school buses and 712 video surveillance other than on buses um those are all available on our website um for review and have um we had some very good conversation at our policy meeting um on the sub our subcommittee on policy on these policies as well um next we will move on to action items and our one and only action item tonight is the High School stadium Lights director Henkin thank you chair Mueller members of the board and superintendent stck um so this evening um as presented um at the previous board meeting in more detail um we are looking or seeking um approval to move forward with the stadium lights project um so our Stadium lights and our football stadium is what we're referring to um um are definitely um aged well um and uh in recent years we've seen outages and um one during or two actually during events um so um seeking to uh replace those lights with new LED energy efficient lighting system um and set oursel up for the next hopefully you know 30 years of Lights um in the stadium again um so uh we received uh multiable um quotes as presented at the previous meeting and the lowest responsible M bidder of uh musco lighting and we're seeking approval um to approve the base quote of $192,700 and again this is funded it uh through the capital projects Levy thank you can I get a motion to award the project to mus lighting for the High School stadium lights project in the amount of $12,750 so that was a good competing Julie second second stereo can I get a second second second by so I took Julie um for the motion in a second by Laura um is there any discussion I'll just mention um if you're just watching us tonight you can go back to our previous meeting um for the presentation full presentation on the lighting project um with no other discussion we will proceed the vote all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed abstain motion carries thank you Dr hkin thank you um next we'll move on to board topics do we have any board topics Mary um I just want to say uh my children were thrilled this morning to wake up to what they are terming um as the first Friday of this week uh they're excited for tomorrow off and so with that I just want to say an early ID Mubarak to our staff and our students and our community members who celebrate thank you board topics um I have one just a housekeeping item um remember we have our work session um next week at Valley View um and just a note um since I can't do this outside of this meeting I will not be present um at the work session so Vice chair grantlin will be chairing that um and and then remember that we have our um science of reading um discussion so make sure you get your next module done and I will miss the conversation on that um so looking forward to updating at the um the May meeting so I do have a question we only got half an hour slotted for that we do for half 5:30 isn't it on the same day as the I must have read it wrong I'm sorry no and I may have said it wrong because I thought my brain did the same thing so our work session is the 16th at 5:30 and then the next meeting is the 23rd at 6 so if I messed that up it was my brain was doing that so because I Laura I thought the exact same thing okay any other board topics all right well it's nice to see you all again and we will adjourn the meeting at 7:59